Mongo Beti (1932–2001)

I have several other books by Beti and, after this, I can safely say that it will be a while before I read them. The story is set just after World War II among a Bantu tribe in Cameroon. The local French missionary takes advantage of the unexpected (miraculous, one might even say) recovery of the local Chief from certain death to convince him to embrace Christianity. In so doing, he is obliged to disavow 22 of his 23 wives—leading some of them (together with their families and tribes) to object, sometimes vigorously. The repudiation and subsequent disharmony causes chaos and drags in the local French administration, allowing Beti the opportunity to lambaste everyone equally: natives, the French missionary, the Church, and the French government. The French administration is eager for peace since the Chief had been an important supporter of theirs before his illness. Now his actions, while pleasing to the Church, have broken with centuries of tribal custom and sown discord. I think there is a pretty good book underneath it all, but Beti’s reach exceeds his grasp.… (mehr)

88/2021. Mission to Kala, by Mongo Beti, is a 1957 Cameroonian comic novel about a young failed college student sent on a mission from his home village to find someone else's runaway wife. Our educated westernised city-dwelling protagonist quickly finds himself out of his depth when faced with the wiles of his country village cousins and their traditional ways of getting things done. As you can probably imagine from that description the primary form of humour is satire and no character is spared. The author side-eyes tradition and those who cling to the worst of it, he mocks colonialism and those who co-operate with it, he is quizzical about his contemporaries and their impotent hopes for the future, he even manages to tease his (presumed) French/westernised readers with subtle digs such as the implication that postcolonial Africa will turn to the USSR because the peasant farmers have more empathy with their Russian counterparts and their drive for modernisation than cities paved with illusory capitalist gold in the Western alliance. The protagonist claims this is a sentimental novel rather than picaresque one but the author does tend to want it both ways which results in twice as much fun for the reader. The story is well written and smoothly translated into English by Peter Green but, as in most bildungsroman novels revolving around a young male protagonist and his inner journey, characterisation is mostly through interaction with the (anti-)hero protagonist and the road trip plot is merely a vehicle, albeit in this case a satisfyingly structured vehicle. The protagonist's attitudes towards women are coloured here and there with feminist ideas about fairer division of labour, but the sexual attitudes might upset some 21st century readers although the protagonist's immature behaviour is self-acknowledged and doesn't go unexamined. If I had to describe this by comparison I suppose it would be Catcher in the Rye goes to Cameroon. I'm wavering on my rating but I can't recall any major flaws so let's say 5*.

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I especially enjoyed the chapter headings: "Chapter Three : In the course of which the reader will become convinced that the final climax of this story is at last in sight - a conviction which is, most unfortunately, mistaken."… (mehr)

A good book with some serious flaws. Let's not be shy: the tone is often off, things are stilted, the dialogue is ropey and the psychology of the characters sometimes unconvincing. Some, but not aall of this may be due to the translation. Despite this it's fast-paced and always interesting. It's a satire and a condemnation of colonialism and the associated human rights abuses.

Our protagonist is one Father Drumont who has come out to Cameroon to covert the natives but has subsequently committed a series of crimes against his parishioners. He has also run his mission as a business and denies the sacraments to the poor. He is the poor Christ of Bomba. This is poor as in 'low quality'. I believe the play on words works in French too. For the previous three years he has refused to minister to his flock but decides now to put in three weeks' work. I think this is a reference to the three years of Jesus' ministry. There are lots of these correspondences between Drumont and Jesus but they're opposites or perversions of what happens in the Gospels. I'm sure there are more than I noticed, but I'm not that familiar with the New Testament. It's intellectual things like this that carry you through the novel. It's a political novel. Beti has his head screwed on politically… ie, I agree with him. I understand the Catholic Church had the novel banned. If I hadn't agreed with him I think I might have found the novel unreadable because due to the faults outlined above, the politics stick out above the parapet of the novel.

I understand it's a work of some importance in Francophone African literature. Perhaps of greater importance as a work than it's good as a novel, but still enjoyable.… (mehr)

"We loved him so little...As if he were not one of us..for he was not one of us..."
By sally tarbox on 5 March 2018
Format: Paperback
I'm going to give this a *3 for enjoyment and a *4 for literary merit - as you read you're very aware that there's a lot for the reader to tease out and debate.

Set in 1930s Cameroon, the title character is a French priest working in a mission. It's narrated by his innocent and enthusiastic young acolyte, Dennis, who sees the 'Father' as the personification of Jesus Christ:
"A man who has spread faith among us; made good Christians every day, often despite ourselves. A man full of authority. A stern man,. A father- Jesus Christ."

Certainly the reader can see parallels: like the Gospels, the account is written by another, so it can be hard to deduce Father Drumont's true feelings. A driven individual, he has spent may years serving; and incidents in his life again remind one of the Scriptures, whether it's smashing the artefacts of a pagan dance or standing up in a canoe.

But one soon begins to have reservations about his 'regime', despite Dennis's constant approbation. His unbending severity on the native people's sins seems to relax when it comes to those of the whites. And are the unmarried women, kept captive in a 'sixa' (camp), really there to protect their chastity or to provide forced labour (or worse?)

But exactly how culpable is the priest in the failings of his mission? Is he guilty of mere negligence or complacent in the goings-on?
Certainly brings to life the raw deal of this African nation under its colonial administration.… (mehr)